The Great war ww1 (remembering the dead)

WW1 came about due to political tension and complex military alliances in Europe at the time.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in the summer of 1914 resulted in an international crisis that brought europe into war.

This bloody 4-year war waould see Britain (which included Canada), Frace and Russia lining up against Germany and Austria-Hungary.

By spring 1917, Europe had been at war for more than two-and-a-half years, with neither side being able to make a significant gain. As part of the Allied offensive, a major attack was planned for April in the area of Arras, Frace. In this attack, the canadians would be tasked with capturing vimy ridge

VIMY RIDGE

This battle of Vimy Ridge would be the first time all four divisions of the canadian corps worked together as one formation

The Canadians were trained for months, with models of the trench ssystems being built and the soldiers drilled on what they were to do

Extensive "mining" operations were undertaken in which the Allies dug tunnels beneath the German lines and set huge explosives to be detonated when the time for the attack came

Elaborate tunnel systems-with train tracks, piped water, light and huge underground bunkers to stockpile supplies and arms-were also established to aid the canadians in the battle

The battle began at 5.30am easter monday , april 9th , 1917, with some of the heaviest artillery fire of the war.

Hill 145, as the main height on the ridge was called, was taken on the morning of april 10.

The battle would prove a great sucess, but it would come at great cost. Canadians suffeered approximately 11,000 casualties, of these, nearly 3,600 of them fatal.

CONDITIONS

Life for the soldiers in the trenches was miserable. They were often muddy and cold and had to share their trenches with rats.

in this form of warfare, soldiers faced the enemy across a narrow ***** of land between the opposing trenches.

this was harsh no mans landof mud, barbed wire and shell craters, swept by enemy machine gun fire, and menaced by artillery and snipers.

Mustard Gas was first used by the German Army in september 1917. The skin of victims blistered, the eyes became very sore and they began to vomit. Mustard Gas caused internal and external bleeding and attacked the bronchial tubes. It usually took a person 4-5 weeks to die of mustard gas poisoning

THE SOLDIERS

the dead and injured who fell in no-mans land often could not be recovered.

The total number of casualties in World War I, both military and civilian, was about 37 million: 16 million deaths and 21 million wounded. The total number of deaths includes: 9.7 million military personnel6.8 million civilians. The Allies lost about 5.7 millionCentral Powers lost about 4 million.

British and Commonwealth military command executed 306 of its own men during the Great War. Those shot brought such shame on their country that nearly a century on, their names still do not appear on official war memorials.

During World War One, the execution of troops for desertion was intended both as punishment and a deterrent to others

Private Thomas Highgate was the first to suffer such military justice. Unable to bear the carnage of 7,800 British troops at the Battle of Mons, he had fled and hidden in a barn. He was undefended at his trial because all his comrades from the Royal West Kents had been killed, injured or captured. Just 35 days into the war, Private Highgate was executed at the age of 17.

REMEMBERENCE

At vimy ridge, today on land granted to canada for all time by a grateful france, the canadian national vimy memorial sits atop Hill 145 , rising above the now quiet surrounding countryside. This great monument is inscribed with the names of 11,285 canadian soldiers who were listed as "missing , presumed dead" in france.

Ever since 1928, the last post has been sounded under the Menin Gate every evening at 8.00pm.The organisation of this daily ceremony is the responsibility of the last post association

The brooding soldier monument at St Julien commenmorated the death of canadian soldiers in the first gas attacks.

At sanctuary Wood Museum, near the village of Passchendaele , a section of the british trenches has been preserved

Tyne cot military cemetery is the largest commonwealth war graves cemetery with 11,871 soldiers buried there (70% of them unknown)

Memorial of the missing on which are listed 34,888 names.

YPR

The land surrounding Ypres to the north is flat and canals and rivers link it to the coast. The major centre in this part of Flanders was Ypres. Control of the town gave control of the surrounding countryside and all the major roads converged on the town. To the south of the town the land rises to about 500 feet (the Mesen Ridge) which would give a significant height advantage to whichever side controlled this ridge of high land.

British troops entered Ypres in October 1914. They were unaware of the size of the German force advancing on the town

Once the weather had settled, the Germans prepared for a new attack. They used deadly chlorine gas against defending French troops. Having never experienced this before, terrified French soldiers fled. Gas had worked as it had got them to leave their positions. The situation was saved by Canadian troops who used handkerchiefs soaked in urine as gas masks and launched a counter-attack on the Germans. It was successful and the Germans lost the gains they had made.

The arrival of the Americans into the war in 1917, hastened the defeat of the Germans and the last shell fell on Ypres on the 14th of October 1918.

In the area around Ypres - including Hill 60, Passchendaele, Lys, Sanctuary Wood etc. - over 1,700,000 soldiers on both sides were killed or wounded and an uncounted number of civilians.